


little white lies

by softshocks



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, The Proposal AU, fake engagement au for immigration purposes, mentions of yoodong because i love life, past 2yoo because i like pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26931733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softshocks/pseuds/softshocks
Summary: Bora - in all her expensive fashion items - kneels. “Marry me.”“Say ‘please’.”Her boss inhales, rolling her eyes. “Marry me, please. So I don’t get deported.”
Relationships: Kim Bora | SuA/Lee Yoobin | Dami
Comments: 25
Kudos: 109





	little white lies

**Author's Note:**

> I was possessed by an angry god that made me write this and complete it
> 
> No need to watch the proposal w sandra bullock and ryan reynolds but it’s one of my favorite romcoms!
> 
> For makomi and cass, and the other four (4) yura shippers
> 
> Come say hi, i’m hausofbora on twt

Lee Yubin wants a lot of things in life. 

She wants to get rich, she wants to write, she wants to get rich from writing. There’s also retreating to God-knows-where to manage a sustainable farm with her future wife, welcoming their neighbors inside their humble cottage. 

To attain that, however, means that she’s here doing assistant work. 

Assistant work for one of the best publishers on the face of the planet, yes, but still assistant work. 

There’s nothing wrong with assistant work. It’s an honorable job. Every day Yubin runs errands for Kim Bora — fetches her ridiculous tea orders, answers emails demanding her attention, ghostwriting speeches and creating decks for presentations. It’s all grind work so Yubin has respect for the profession, as she does for all work. 

Everyone tells her it’s a good job and sometimes Yubin has to agree — even with administrative tasks and even if Bora never really took the time of the day to mentor her, she still gets to build her capital. She keeps contacts, meets people. 

So it’s not all bad. And having Bora as a boss is… okay. She doesn’t yell, or anything. She definitely expects her to answer messages off-work hours. She definitely throws things her way all of a sudden. 

It’s a job. She’s a boss. She has no particular feelings for her. Except annoyance when she asks her to fetch coffee in the middle of the day. Or annoyance when she expects Yubin to answer calls on weekends. Or annoyance when she’s just a little bit too loud with her phone calls even inside an enclosed room. 

(Okay, so maybe annoyance.) 

So it’s a complete surprise - which is not a surprise at all, unfortunately - when Bora calls her in one morning. Yubin greets: “hey, boss. How’d your appointment go with immigration?” 

There were some issues with Bora’s birthplace. Yubin had been the one to fill up all pertinent documents. 

Bora looks up from her laptop, sparing Yubin a glance. “So about that. If you don’t mind being my fianceé and we can get married for like, maybe three months and get divorced until I sort out my papers.” 

Silence. Bora goes back to typing up emails, as if she’d just listed her usual Starbucks order.

Some more silence, and Yubin fills it with a laugh. “Are you serious?” 

This time, Bora doesn’t look up from her laptop. “Yes, I am. We can arrange for a quick civil thing and we don’t have to talk about it anymore.” 

When Bora turns to her, Yubin feels annoyance shift into an unbelievable level of anger. Of course, Yubin tempers it, and turns to walk away because if she doesn’t, she’ll explode. 

-

 _I swear to God_ , Yubin thinks angrily, walking away. Walking anywhere. A part of her wanted to tell Bora she wanted to resign because this was too much. _Who does she even think she is?_

Yubin kicks a can at the thought. It’s the most emotion she’s shown physically, and it meets her quota. That’s enough displays of feeling today. 

She’s so angry she doesn’t even notice there’s hurried clicking of heels behind her, and Bora calling out - “ _Yubin_!” - as she catches on to Yubin’s pace. 

“I’m not doing it,” Yubin says firmly, walking faster. “There are lines to be drawn.” 

“I’ll do whatever you want,” Bora replies, her voice as desperate as Bora could possibly sound. “I’ll… I’ll help you with your book.” 

That makes Yubin stop dead in her tracks. She turns around to face Bora, whose face is beaded with sweat. “You’ll what?”

“I’ll help you with your book. Whatever you want.” 

Her book. The book she’s been trying to get Bora to read the past year. 

Yubin squints her eyes. “You promise you’ll help me if I agree.” 

“Yes, whatever. Please, Yubin. I don’t want to be deported.” 

This was not exactly how she’d pictured a book deal to go, but honestly, Yubin has suffered enough from administrative tasks that she can’t help but take this shortcut. 

There were a few other conditions, however. Yubin tells Bora such. 

“You have to meet my family.” 

Bora’s frown deepens. “What? Why?” 

“They’re going to find out about this whether we like it or not,” Yubin tells her. “So meet my family, or no deal.”

“Fine.”

“And my book deal, and a promotion.”

She’s really milking this, and Bora, in her pride, huffs - despite her desperation. “Again, fine.”

Yubin has one last request. “Okay. On your knee.” 

Bora looks at her like she’s grown three heads. “Are you insane? I’m wearing Valentino. And we’re in public.” 

Yubin inspects her nails. “Well looks like you might get deported if I don’t agree to your proposal.” 

That does the trick, and Bora - in all her expensive fashion items - kneels. “Marry me.” 

“Say ‘please’.” 

Her boss inhales, rolling her eyes. “Marry me, please. So I don’t get deported.” 

“Say ‘I will give Lee Yubin all the assistance she needs to publish her book, plus a promotion and raise, for the three months we’re married.” 

Bora looks her dead straight in the eye. “I will give Lee Yubin all the assistance she needs to publish her book.” 

“Well, that’s that.” Yubin starts walking away, leaving Bora on her knees in the middle of the busy plaza. Her anger has dissipated, replaced by a certain satisfaction of her leverage. “I’ll see you on Saturday to meet my family and then we can get married. Bye!”

-

The whole office is surprised, and Yubin refuses to answer any questions about it.

-

The immigration officer looks between them and can most likely smell the fact that this whole schtick was a big fat lie. 

Bora smiles, and even her dazzling cover-girl smile that charms people down to their toes isn’t working. “Yes, it’s true. We’re engaged.” Bora nudges her to show her left hand, where the Tiffany & Co. ring Bora had given to her unceremoniously last night resides. 

The officer squints at Yubin, and now more than ever she feels the perspiration at the back of her neck. “What’s her favorite color?”

She tries to remember the prominent colors in Bora’s ridiculously expensive collection of clothing. Red Tom Ford. Red Moschino. Red Valentino. Red Armani. 

“Red,” Yubin says, simply, and Bora nods - a little more eagerly. 

He squints his eyes again, leaning back. “Well, when’s the wedding?”

“In a few months,” Bora replies, moving in closer to hold Yubin’s hand. Her knee-jerk response is to pull away, but she manages to stop, holding on to Bora’s hand. Which is so weird on so many levels.

(Her palms are soft, even if her fingertips aren’t.) 

“Isn’t that right, darling?”

Yubin nods, trying the pet names to at least sell it. 

_You have a goddamn book deal on the line. A goddamn promotion._ “Yes, love.” 

The appointment ends with Bora’s stay being extended until the wedding, which is frankly enough time for her papers to be successfully sorted out. 

-

_Hey mom are you busy_

_Hi Yubinnie. Just finishing some articles._

_What’s up?_

_I’m coming over for the holiday_

_And introducing someone_

_That’s great! We miss you so much._

_And O.M.G! Who??????_

_Um. So i’ll explain soon but uh_

_It’s my boss_

_Bora_

_We’re engaged haha_

_Mom is calling…_

-

“Bora, I’m telling you, you don’t need that much clothing,” Yubin says, locking her suitcase. It’s just the essentials - some clothes for the week, her work stuff. She’d left a key for Gahyeon to water her indoor and veranda plants. 

“I just want to make a good impression,” her boss replies, stubbornly. She hears the clicking of her suitcase.

Yubin tries not to be endeared, because this is a barter. This is an exchange. Bora’s immigration stalling for Yubin’s book deal and promotion. 

(Yubin fails, and she hates it.) 

-

It’s always nice to be home, and Yubin loves the smell of fresh air away from the city. Bora struggles with her luggage, and Yubin takes pity on her. 

“I told you you brought too much stuff.” 

Bora only rolls her eyes. “Just help me with this.” 

The cab ride is quiet as of the rest of the trip, until Bora asks - for the first time that wasn’t her entry interview - something about Yubin. “This is where you grew up?”

Yubin nods, the familiar streets and roads roll outside the cab. “Yeah.” 

Bora turns to her, watching her intently. “Tell me about your childhood.”

She can’t help but hesitate - but the woman in front of her is somehow not the Bora she knows back at the publishing house. It’s just… stripped down. Watching her openly. Warm. Inviting. Yubin has never seen this from her before.

 _Book deal. Promotion._ She reminds herself. But Bora looks so open and soft that Yubin gives in. So she does tell Bora about her childhood here - they’d moved back to her mother’s hometown after her parents’ divorce. She was homeschooled for her younger years, then attended an arts high school where she’d met Siyeon and Yoohyeon, before moving to the city for uni.

Bora listens to it all, attentive. “You had a good childhood, I’m glad. All kids deserve that.” 

Raising a brow, Yubin replies, “What about you?” 

“Nothing much. My family moved a lot because of the publishing house work my parents had to do,” Bora shrugs. “Uneventful. Sometimes I wish that I got to live a normal childhood.” 

Yubin wants to ask more, but it doesn’t seem Bora wants to continue. She doesn’t have a chance, because they stop at Yubin’s house. 

“Okay,” Yubin says, feeling her insides roll around. From the way Bora’s upper lip perspires, she must be feeling the same way too. “Showtime.”

-

It’s an entire ruckus, because apparently her mom invited her aunts and her cousins to welcome the two of them. 

Yubin’s grandmother embraces Bora, says she’s welcome anytime and happy her Yubinnie is finally settling down instead of throwing herself into work like she always does. 

“Grandma…” Yubin says, blushing. Bora’s blushing, as well, for whatever reason. The same flash of guilty keeps crossing her face whenever she’s hugged, or whenever she’s told she’s a beautiful girl. 

“What? It’s true!” 

Yubin’s mom nudges Grandmother away from them, not having enough with Bora and Yubin’s cheeks. When she comes back, she looks at the two of them. “So, are you two lovebirds hungry?”

-

“That didn’t go half as bad,” Bora says, setting aside her luggage in Yubin’s childhood room. “I think we nailed the _how-we-got-together_ thing quite well.” 

Yubin might have to agree. They’d spent a few hours glossing over it and arguing after the barely-avoided disaster at immigration. They’d convinced Yubin’s entire extended family that they’re in love. 

“There’s only one bed, I’m sorry, and my mom insisted that we sleep in one bed because the rest of the family is here,” Yubin tells her, setting her coat aside on her old computer chair. “But I can sleep on the floor.” 

Bora shakes her head. “Nonsense. You’re not sleeping on the floor. This is your home.” 

She has that stubborn look on her face, and she wears it when she’s negotiating deals and scaring the shit out of old, male clients who are trying to ask for a higher leverage. 

So there’s absolutely no way she’s going to allow Yubin to sleep on the floor. Yubin sighs, nodding. She really missed her childhood room. Her mom left it untouched and she’d left most of her books and her early music production gear. 

“So this was your thing, huh?” Bora says, when she takes a seat at the edge of the bed. She looks at the books lining Yubin’s wall. “So many of these books were published by my family.” 

Yubin leans against the wall. “Yeah, when my mom said that she was a fan, she wasn’t kidding.” 

Her mom was over the moon about Bora. Had it been any other person (except Yoohyeon, of course), she’d probably been a little bit angry about the sudden announcement. Not to mention that she’d probably not let them sleep in the same room.

“I’m flattered,” says Bora, softly. “She was very kind, taking me in. Thank you.” 

Yubin wants to say _you’re welcome, but this is a deal._ It comes out as: “this is my end of the bargain.” 

Bora looks down. “Yes, of course. I didn’t forget.”

The rest of the night is spent in silence as they go about their night routines, and they settle on the bed with as much space as can be between them. 

“Sleep well,” Yubin says, extending a miserable excuse for an olive branch for a while ago. 

“You too.” 

-

Yubin wakes up and she is absolutely not surprised to find that Bora is wrapped around her. 

She is surprised that she thinks she… likes it. Somewhat. It’s cold and Bora is warm and pretty and— 

Yubin shakes the thought off. Checking her watch from the side table tells her it’s nine AM, and that everyone’s probably having breakfast downstairs.

She also has to meet Siyeon for brunch, and her mom had requested alone time with Bora. 

Pulling away within jostling Bora awake and freaking the both of them out, Yubin moves slowly. She’s about to shake Bora awake but she stops. 

In the morning sunlight streaming through her windows, Bora looks gorgeous. It’s no secret she was beautiful. There were countless suitors leaving her gifts at the reception everyday — bachelors and bachelorettes from prominent families, from Fortune 500 companies. 

Bora paid them no mind, married to her work. Married to her dedication to flirt with beautiful women she sees and not following through with it. 

It didn’t help that she was intelligent and charming. Had Yubin not been her assistant, maybe she’d developed a crush. 

Alas. 

(A small part of her wonders if that was her role now. She was definitely not Bora’s assistant. She was half of the bargain. She had leverage.

Is that why she thinks the way the sun paints Bora’s skin is painfully pretty?) 

“Bora,” Yubin says, unwilling to think about the consequences of that thought process. “Wake up. You have a date with my mom and I have to meet Siyeon.” 

(Even the way she slowly opens her eyes is so pretty.

Ah, _damn it._ ) 

-

“So what’s her deal?” Siyeon says, as a greeting. 

“Hey to you too,” Yubin grumbles, but she tumbles into Siyeon’s embrace. “Can I hug you a bit before going into that because I haven’t seen you since the holidays?” 

Siyeon laughs, her deep and husky one that Yubin misses. 

Because Yubin tells Siyeon everything, she details the whole Bora schtick over their lunch. 

“Yikes,” she whistles, “your mom’s not gonna like that. She seems to love Bora.”

Yubin pinches the bridge of her nose. “She’ll be heartbroken, I know.” A small voice in the back of her mind tries to tell her: _maybe she doesn’t have to be,_ but Yubin pushes it aside. 

It’s a small town, so they run into Yoohyeon, who is so surprised to see them. 

Even after all these years, Yubin is glad she stayed friends with Yoohyeon after their breakup. 

She’ll always love Yoohyeon, and she’ll always have a space reserved in Yubin’s heart. But that doesn’t mean she’s not over the moon for Yoohyeon when she tells her that she and Handong are engaged. 

They make it back home, having a few afternoon drinks when her mom and Bora walk in, with paper bags of clothing, talking about the other publishing moguls they’ve had terrible experiences with. 

“Oh, Yoohyeon, Siyeon,” her mom greets, coming over to hug the two. “Nice to see all of you kids here.”

“You say that like I don’t crash to have lunch whenever I feel like it, Ms. Lee,” Siyeon laughs. 

“Well, you’re always welcome here even if our Yubinnie isn’t around,” Yubin’s mom replies. Bora stands awkwardly at the table. 

“Oh, everyone,” Yubin says, sidling up to Bora. She plays her part and kisses her cheek, wrapping an arm around the smaller woman. “This is my fianceé, Bora.” 

They all greet her, and then invite her over to the couch to get to know her. Yoohyeon and Siyeon like her, because it’s hard not to. 

Later that evening, when it’s time for bed, Bora turns around as she rubs moisturizer on her face. “That Yoohyeon girl…”

“What about her?”

“You had history, no?”

Yubin laughs. “Yeah. First girlfriend, first love.” First a lot of things, and she’ll always be grateful. 

Bora gives her a sad smile. “I’m sorry.” 

“Why? It ended a long time ago.” 

When Bora doesn’t respond, Yubin lets it go. They only talk again when they’re both tucked in bed, with the same amount of space between at the start of last night. 

“We don’t have to do this, you know, like actually get married,” Bora begins. “If you want to be with someone else. Just until my papers are sorted out.” 

Yubin sighs, turning to her side. Bora’s not talking about Yoohyeon per se, knowing that she’s happily engaged. “I’ll definitely let you know.” 

“Okay, good.” Bora says, turning from the ceiling to look at Yubin and God, she’s so pretty. “So your mom and I had fun today.” 

“Yeah? She likes you a lot. But you know that already.” 

Bora smiles, but it doesn’t make her eyes. She does, however, light up when she tells Yubin: “she had tons of embarrassing Yubin stories to share.” 

Yubin groans, smushing a pillow to her face. 

-

Today’s agenda is apparently Yubin’s uncle calling for a fishing daytrip — Yubin’s childhood nightmare for the sole reason that she hates fishing with the flames of hatred.

Bora, however, couldn’t be happier. 

It’s an early trip and Yubin tries not to think about how seamlessly they move about the room, dressing up like a well oiled machine.

Until—

“Yubin, can you help with the ice?” Her mom calls out, and she comes to do so.

What she was about to do was enter her room to put some shoes on while Bora’s in the shower.

What isn’t prepared for is Bora’s naked body slamming into her. 

“What—” Yubin starts, and they’re both too startled to move. 

“I… I was going to get some other piece of clothing fit for today,” Bora says, lowly, embarrassed. Yubin can feel her flushed skin on her, and tries her best not to blush. 

“Oh God, okay,” Yubin says, looking to the ceiling out of respect. “I… I think you should get off me now.”

“Good idea,” Bora replies, standing up and taking the towel that somehow flew beside them. It could have done its job to separate their bodies but alas. 

“We don’t speak of that,” Bora says, firmly, not meeting Yubin’s eyes when she enters the car. Which isn’t a problem, because Yubin can’t look at her without feeling her stomach fold into itself. She’s not a blushing virgin — far from one. She’s the one making women blush. 

So this whole situation is painfully foreign. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Yubin says, putting on her sunglasses as the back hatch of their SUV slams shut. 

Kim Bora keeps surprising Yubin, because she can actually throw a mean line.

At the end of the fishing trip, Bora wins the most number of fishes — due to her skill, perseverance, and sheer competitive will that cannot be stopped by anything in this world. 

She wins this embarrassing MILF (Man I Love Fishing) hat up for grabs and Bora, as usual, is over the moon. 

-

Yubin realizes, on their second week, that getting to know Bora was actually pretty pleasant.

(It’s more than that, Yubin knows, but she’s not sure what to make of it.)

 _There are lines to be drawn_ , she’d said, but those lines are slowly being washed away, as if they were lines drawn on wet sand by the beach. 

The crashing waves are the way Bora smiles with her mom, the way Bora moves closer to her, the way Bora asks about her family, her childhood. It’s the way she’s more open with Yubin than she’s ever seen before. 

Before, there were some days the only words Bora speaks to her was her tea order.

Three weeks in, Yubin can’t imagine not speaking to Bora the way she is now. 

It’s a deal. This is a book deal. This is a promotion. 

So why was the space between Yubin’s ribs aching when Bora smiles at her? When Bora cuddles closer because it’s cold? When Bora details her next book, her childhood dreams, her parents, her best friend Minji. 

This was Bora’s stay in the country. So why does she look at Yubin’s lips the way she does when she thinks Yubin isn’t looking?

(“Hey,” Bora says, their faces a bit closer than usual. 

“Yeah?”

“Thanks again,” she says. “I know this whole thing isn’t real, but I’m having fun. Your family is very kind.”

Yubin tries to be warmer, and she thinks she succeeds. “I’m glad. My family means a lot to me.”

She thinks at that moment they were going to kiss, but they duck out at the same time. Her heart beats a mile a minute, but Yubin ignores that for the sound of the crickets chirping loudly outside her window.)

Yubin tightens her hold around Bora, who cuddles closer into her shoulder. 

-

_Singnie_

_Yea_

_I think I have feelings for Bora_

_WHAT_

_Singnie is calling..._

-

“What’s the plan today?” 

“Wedding dress fitting,” Bora tells her, putting on some foot socks. “Your mom has been waiting for this day.” 

Yubin nods. She doesn’t know what her mom has in store for Bora, but Yubin is definitely wearing a white suit just for the sake of making sure it seems like they’re actually going to get married. “You’ll look beautiful,” she says sincerely, busying with a stress ball and trying not to look at Bora. 

“Thanks babe,” Bora teases. But she kisses the crown of Yubin’s head as she leaves. 

Yubin tries not to grumble about it (and fails), burying her face in a pillow when the door slams closed. 

-

(Bora steps out of the room, wearing the wedding dress Yubin’s mom had laid out for her. 

It’s elegant, the way she’d always imagined her wedding dress to be — but also somewhat simple with the seams and the elements, in a way that would match Yubin’s style. 

“I drafted this the first time I truly got a whiff of your personality,” Ms. Lee says, adoring the way it fit Bora. 

She looks at herself in the mirror. Ms. Lee looks like she’s on the verge of tears, and Bora thinks she is, too. 

Her mom would never have helped her out with stuff like this. 

“I look beautiful,” Bora says, her heart breaking. 

“Yes you do, honey,” Ms. Lee tells her, and then it crumbles. 

She can’t keep doing this. She really can’t.

Not when she has feelings for Yubin, too. Not when this is the most she’s felt loved in a long time.

Bora takes off the wedding dress and is quiet the whole ride home.)

-

After a day out with Siyeon and Yoohyeon, she’s very surprised to see Bora packing her things. 

“Bora?” Yubin says, frowning. “What’s going on?”

She doesn’t even look up from folding her clothes and putting it into her suitcase. “My papers got fixed. Everything’s fine. We don’t have to do this anymore.” 

She isn’t sure if that’s true. Yubin would have received a text, too. 

“So you’re just gonna go like that?” 

Bora locks her suitcase, finally looks at Yubin. She seems so distressed, but it’s tempered in the way Bora’s real emotions are. “You pulled your end of the bargain. I’ll give you your book deal,” she says, hurriedly. “You don’t have to work for me anymore. I’ll recommend you as one of our most promising writers and get you a good job.” 

Yubin wasn’t even thinking of that. “Bora—”

“You don’t deserve this, your family—”

“Okay.”

Bora looks up at her. “What?”

Yubin doesn’t understand the tightening in her chest. “I said you can leave if you want.”

There’s a pause, and Bora nods. She moves past Yubin with her luggage to say goodbye to her mom. Apologize for the sudden exit. _There’s an emergency at the publishing house,_ Yubin hears her say, _it needs my immediate attention._

Yubin kicks the edge of her bed when the door of the taxi Bora hails slams shut. 

-

There’s a knock on the door, and her mom enters with a plate of sliced fruit. “Hey, baby. Bummed Bora left?” 

She doesn’t have it in her to lie anymore. But Yubin has stopped lying to herself since that night she almost kissed Bora. “Yeah.” 

Her mom sits on the side of her bed, as she always does. “Why don’t you go after her?” 

“She wants to be left alone.” 

The woman pulls a face, the one that tells Yubin she’s not buying it. “I think the two of you need to talk about things. Even if you’re not engaged or anything, communication is important.” 

Yubin sits up immediately. “You knew?”

Her mom laughs. “Please. I’m not stupid. I have two PhDs, and more importantly, I’m your mom. I know everything,” she smooths her hand over Yubin’s hair. “But it seemed like you liked her.” 

Yubin, again, doesn’t want to lie anymore. “I do.” 

“And she likes you too,” her mom tells her. “So I don’t know why you’re here moping around when you can go get her.” 

Yubin moves to stand, but not without throwing her arms around her mom. “I love you, mom,” she says into her shoulder.

“I love you too, baby,” she replies. “Now go!” 

-

Yubin drives as fast as she can within the speed limit, of course, because she’s not insane. 

She parks her car by the bus terminal just as the rain starts pouring. _I have to get to her before she boards that bus,_ Yubin thinks, so she braves the rain without sparing it a second thought.

She sees Bora scrolling absently on her phone, and she’s aware she’s dripping everywhere looking like a drenched chick. 

“Bora,” Yubin calls out, her teeth chattering. “Bora!”

Bora looks up, her eyes lighting up as fast as it dims when she realizes Yubin is shaking from the cold. “Yubin, you’re drenched,” she says, rushing over to put her Valentino coat over her shoulders. “Why are you here?”

“Come back,” Yubin says, feeling warmer already - from the coat and from Bora’s closeness. There are eyes watching them, and Yubin feels herself shrink from the attention. “Finish the holiday with me.” 

Bora frowns. “But we don’t have to do this anymore.” 

Sighing, Yubin takes Bora by the shoulders. “Don’t you get it? We don’t have to do this anymore. That’s why I want you to finish the holiday back at my place.” 

It takes a few moments for the meaning to dawn on Bora, and when it does, she blushes a deep red. “Oh.” 

“Yeah,” Yubin laughs, despite her teeth still chattering. “Oh. Now can we please head back to my car because I’d like to dry up and talk about this without all these people watching us.” 

Bora doesn’t need to be told twice. She takes her luggage and runs back to Yubin’s car.

“I mean it,” Yubin says, from the passenger’s seat, in a fresh set of clothing from Bora’s suitcase. She’s still cold, and her hands are shaking, so Bora volunteers to drive. “Stay for the rest of the weekend. If you want.” 

Bora looks at her from the driver’s seat. “Yubin,” she begins, chewing her bottom lip. “We really don’t have to.” 

She chuckles. “You don’t get it, Bora. I want to get to know you more. Not just because of your immigration papers. Not because of the book deal. Not because of any of those,” Yubin says, laying her cards on the table. Bora, for all her intelligence, is really not taking this as fast as she’d imagined. 

Halting at a stoplight, Bora turns to her. “I want to get to know you, too,” she says. “I haven’t been pretending that I liked you. Because I do.” 

“That’s convenient,” Yubin laughs. “Because I like you too.”

The way Bora looks at her is too much, and the ache in her chest is much more intense but in the best way possible. So when Bora leans in to kiss her the way Yubin has wanted to for the past two weeks, she lets it happen and Yubin kisses her back with so much gentleness she didn’t know she’d ever have for the woman in the driver’s seat. 

Then again, Kim Bora has always surprised her. 

The car behind them honks its horn at them, startling them apart. They laugh, somewhat shyly, and the drive back to Yubin’s place is pleasantly quiet. 

-

Yubin walks into Bora’s room in the middle of the phone call, her favorite tea order in her hand. A day full of meetings especially with more men trying to explain her job to her, which is always so tedious and so much effort. 

“Thanks darling,” Bora says, looking up at Yubin and smiling. She pulls her closer to press a kiss to her lips, and they both giggle into it. “Wait, stop. I’m working. Don’t distract me! You don’t even work here anymore.”

After they’d decided to date for real, Yubin had taken it upon herself to move to a different company, pursuing her book deal there. “You kissed me first.” 

“You’re insufferable.” 

“You like it.” 

Bora rolls her eyes, shooing her away but not without another kiss. “Appointment at immigration later, okay? So we can get our papers.” 

Yubin walks backwards, winking, and giving her a thumbs up. “Yep, gotcha. We’re officially no longer engaged today.” 

Bora calls out, blowing her a kiss. “Happiest day of my life. See you later. Love you!”

Yubin smiles, feeling her heart soar. Maybe her goals of a sustainable farm in the middle of nowhere isn’t something Bora will like — but Yubin is willing to make a few exceptions for her. 


End file.
